Check out the new addition!

I’ve always wanted to be a builder, and I think this website is kind-of-like my dream warehouse apartment – I can just keep on renovating it, over and over. So, point of this blog – check out the Lyrics Machine in the sidebar, now i just got to work out how to change the song!

By the way, if you don’t know this song, I’m ashamed of you. Currently tormenting my housemates by learning how to play it on the Harmonica!

Big shout-out at this point to any of my fellow spriggers who have checked out the site – Loved the tour, the people and the cricket!

Please Rant & Rave

Hi All, I’d just like to make it clear – I like it when you all Rant!

Please dont be afraid to express yourself by posting a comment, or if you would like a little more space, or a little more headline – email me something and I’ll post it on your behalf.

This comment is in part inspired by the speech of Steve Jobs that Sarah forwarded to Nick (who is all about everybody having an opinion), and in part by my family, who have always been about having a good rant for the fun of it (as you can see – dont be afraid of them, they only yell and scream and froth at the mouth, they dont bite.)

So forward me anything you you would to draw peoples attention to, especially personal pieces, thoughts, or just make a comment. Thanks.

Shinerama!

Here I am with some of the bigwigs of the URSU & our Goldenmile Mall team!
L to R: Victor (president URSU), Lawrence, Victor, Lindy?, Hillary (Vice President External), YT & Shaun (Vice President Students).
This is the second set of fundraising we have done this week, and an official end to the UofR Shinerama. On Wednesday we scoured the campus shining students and staff shoes alike the team of 4 I was in covered Luther & campion colleges, rasing about $250.
Our team of 5 on saturday where at the Goldemile Mall (My local!) from 9:30 to 12:00 and raised about $50 each. Highlight of the day for me being that the local cleaner told me there was a girl who sounded just like me working across the road at the donut shop, so I went over and paid a visit to Sharon, the third known aussie in regina!
Saturday night was a free beer & Pizza night for the V-team (URSU Volunteers), and we made sure there were no beer tickets left at the end! i managed to draw another aussie out of the woodwork – she came and punched me and asked me what claim I had to the Wallabies jumper I was wearing!
All the money from Shinerama goes to Cystic Fibrosis Council (Check the link) and URSU has raised about $7,000.00 This year! Top work people!

The Weekend!

Ian & Myself BBQ’ing away!
This weekend was quite action packed! It all started on Friday night – the 2nd of the Lazy owls Five Fridays! I voluteered my services as expert aussie BBQ’r to flip burgers (as they say) for the URSU Cistic Fibrosis Fundraiser! It was a great night and was great from a social aspect because a lot of people I knew from classes knew where to find me! Not to mention all the hungry randoms I got to talk to! Unfortunately standing beside the BBQ till 4am meant teh next day I had a massive fever and was unable to go on the Cistic Fibrosis bar blitz (The ad read: Free Entry to clubs & bars to sell candy necklaces to hot chicks – I was sold!) which would have been awesome! However I did manage to make it to teh U of R Rams game, which they lost, but it was interesting none-the-less!

L – R: Alvin, Hanne, Eva, Anni, Ant-ti, Hedei, Alex & Sona

After another night of raging fever, I dragged myself out of bed and Alex and I managed to make it to the bus station in time to join a few other exchange students and Alvin to head to Moose Jaw to check out the Tunnels of Prohibition! It was pretty cool, teh tour guides where all dressed up in 1920’s clothes and acted out the part as if we where actually bootleggers smuggling Al Capone’s Whiskey across the border into America! We also did another tour about teh chinese immigration which was very interesting, nice to know every country has some skeletons in the closet. (Apologies for incorrect spelling of names!)

Alvin in front of the sign I plan to send a pic of to Rove – Mike – a Moosejawian couldn’t explain it!

The Influence of God (I stand to be corrected)

Belief in God can be a dangerous thing, especially for those that don’t believe!

Need an example? Imagine the early 1200’s, the Church is very very powerful and Pope Innocent III reins (apparently reluctantly over all of europe), except he has a little trouble with the heretic ‘Albigenses’ (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01267e.htm) known to some as the ‘kathos’ I believe. The kathos live in Southern France and after they murder someone important to the Pope, he resorts to force in true religous style.

However, the French catholics in one particular part of france, side with the Kathos in an unprecedented move and they all shelter together in the church of Mary Magdeleine. Pope Innocent III, a magnificent ruler of The Holy Land, as described by the catholic encyclopedia, when questioned on how they should seperate the catholics from the heretic ‘kathos’ the Pope replied:

“Kill them all, God is all powerfull and knowing,
he will know which are catholic and which are heretic,
which should go to heaven amd which should go to hell.”
unfortunately the Catholic encyclopedia doesn’t go into this in great detail, but it does comment briefly on it about 3/4’s of the way down its biography on Pope Innocent III at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08013a.htm

Families of Suicide Soldiers Seek Compo


A lot of you may already have known of Dave Hayward, a friend of mine from highschool. He is at the front of the picture above, pulling faces and making everybody laugh, as he used to do at home. Dave apparently committed suicide in Perth at the beginning of last year, about a week after his Birthday. He had been AWOL from the army, a job he told everyone he loved, for nearly 2 months. His parents had not been informed of his absence. Dave had won an award for his dedication to his training. So many things will remain unexplained in this world, in my mind.

Please take a moment to read this article: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=3882

Please take a moment to question the world we live in every day, do not believe every word you hear or read, vote, be critical of beauracracy and your beliefs, breathe fresh air, live and learn. Thankyou.

"Geanealogy of Morals" (F. Nietzche)

Despite all my complaining, this really is a very interesting topic. What is good and bad, where did they originate. Before Nietzche & the utalitarians came up with a historical approach to morals, we just accepted that good thigns where always good, and bad things always bad.

Utalitarians:
Believed that Morals developed through altruistic acts – A “good” act was an act for which the actor was praised. Or, the recipient of the act recognised it as a “good” act and worthy of praise. Subsequently altruistic acts became a habit, praise was forgotten and we performed “good” acts because it “felt” good.

Nietzche:
Believed that the geanealogy of morals went beyond utility. N believed that “good” acts where decided by people who where “good.” “Good” people being the aristocratic, the powerful, the noble, strong, beautiful, high-stationed and high-minded. People, in my opinion who had the arrogance & ego to think their actions where “good” and that they where “good” and “above” the rest (read the peasants, the plebes, the low-life). He also argues that our morals have changed (the revolution of slavery) and that in modern times, the plebe has overthrown the last great aristocracy (French Revolution) and that a “herd mentality” has enveloped the world (read democracy?).

N’s definition of good stems partly from and finds some proof in Etymology – especialy the greek origins to the word ‘Noble.’ The origins of this word lie somewhat with the greek fascination with myth and demi-gods, their romantic love of love, heros, tradgedy, drama and battle. N seems to admire this ‘alpha-male’ hero as well, the do-or-die, the brashness, youth, destruction, spontanaeity and courage of the warrior, and he ties this into nobility.

That is not my view of Noble, or of aristocratic. Aristocrats where wealthy, they where educated, powerful and high-minded (read arrogant). I do not deny that. However I also think they where greedy, selfish, ignorant (of the serfs), pragmatic (N argues heros are not pragmatic), and deceitful.

Of course, we are both generalising, talking about a majority of aristocrats. The doubt in my mind is that I cannot see how the morals society holds dear today (or more importantly, my own morals) could be born from the aristocracy of my definition, even with the changes that democracy could and has brought.

Where are your morals from?

Alvin, AKA Nivla.

Big Shout out to Alvin. We met this guy in the Broken Rack Pool Hall / Bar on the long weekend and he went to the pains of explaining the rules of Grid-Iron to us! It was a big game between to geographically close teams – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Manitoba) and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. We also played a few games of pool and drank a few pints of Richards! Since then he has been helping us out with all sorts of stuff, including showing me how to throw a football!

Check out his page: http://www.xanga.com/nivla2

Name Tag Party!

Whats the idea behind this? Well – apparently you where supposed to wear a nametag, but we didn’t know about it – so we just let them write on our arms. it was the first party organised in the residence ‘party room’ (Read basement)Highlight of the party: one of the biggest beer bongs I have ever seen!?

Not only did they have this beerigation system hooked up with taps and all, but they also had suck the duck – a giant duck with a hose coming out its arse and a funnel in its beak.

Rumour has it that a chap by the name of ‘Frank the Tank’ sucked the duck once too much and woke up in the morning with no teeth. Yep – it was a very very messy party. Thankfully I left at about 2am before it got too bad because I was still recovering from the night before!